jeedk

It's mostly your return flight. Most days one way MEX-SFO are $397, but very expensive those few days u need it :

3/15 $449
3/16 $589
3/17 $776 ($599 if 1-stop)
3/18 $938
3/19 $776
3/20 $496

Ps : if u don't mind Volaris, one way back nonstop just $160

ChinaShrek

Nope. A boarding pass from any airline will suffice.

kayexalate

Thanks---I saw that pattern too. Just wondering why United's fares are so much higher than the competition. Usually they tend to follow the trends of the other carriers.

I even tried to price out OW SFO-MEX on UA and MEX-SFO on Aeromexico and it's unfortunately more than a RT ticket on Aeromexico

may end up being Aeromexico the whole way, which is a bummer.

I just found out about "expert mode" on UA's website.

This is what is showing for the SFO-MEX flight on 3/11 that I want:


San Francisco, CA, US (SFO) to Mexico City, MX (MEX)

UA 821 | Airbus A319
Available fare classes:
J7
JN7
C7
D6
Z6
ZN6
P2
PN0
R0
RN0
IN0
I0
Y9
YN9
B9
M9
E9
U9
H9
HN9
Q9
V0
W0
S0
T0
L0
K0
G0
N0
XN0
X0

so if all those lower fares (V, W, S, T, L, K, G N, etc) are showing 0, does that mean they are all sold out? Will UA release more of those lower fares or does that pretty much mean those discounted fares are gone forever? (and I should not wait expecting the prices to go down on UA)

The cheapest avaiable right now is Q class and is $405


On the return (MEX-SFO) on 17 March, this is what is showing:


Mexico City, MX (MEX) to San Francisco, CA, US (SFO)

UA 718 | Airbus A319
Available fare classes:
J8
JN8
C8
D8
Z8
ZN8
P0
PN0
R0
RN0
IN0
I0
Y9
YN9
B9
M9
E0
U0
H0
HN0
Q0
V0
W0
S0
T0
L0
K0
G0
N0
XN0
X0

It's even worse, with that chepeast OW fare being $750 (for M class)

dok_indo

I've been searching for a J ticket LAX-AMS in Dec for a couple of months. Prices on the United website have been stable at $8k. Also used the Google flight tracker (ITA) and the lowest it dropped to was $6k on NZ and BA.

Today I tried Expedia and bought a ticket on United for $3200.

Pleased of course that I got this price, but also wondering if this is typical, since apparently my search strategy wasn't optimal?

Kacee

Hard to say without more details.

But you may have a bulk fare.

channa

As has been mentioned, we'd need the itin details to figure out why, but sometimes in these cases, UA defaults to certain codes which could sway a trip substantially.

An intra-Europe codeshare, for example, UA's site may default to selling it as UA coded, while a third party may offer it as the actual carrier's or another carrier's code. This could pose a significant change in availability.

flybit

UA has given up competing to Asia in Business from Toronto. For over two months now Delta and AA has $1700 fares to PVG/Hkg/PEK and UA is $3000+.

RandomBaritone

Why are advance purchase one-way fares BOS<>SFO for February and March more than double the cost of a round-trip? I'm looking to fly on a Friday and stay three nights, returning the following Monday. Most weekends offer a good round-trip fare, around $340 -- but I happen to have two e-certificates to use, one $200 and the other $125. When I try to book my itinerary as two one-ways, the fare more than doubles to $359 each way.

I know there used to be leisure fares requiring a Saturday night stay, but I thought UA and others abandoned that nonsense long ago for domestic tickets. Any reason this route would get this treatment? It can't be just to extract extra money out of folks with two e-certs.

findark

I wouldn't say long ago. Many routes have had round trip fares in the last twelve months, and some still do. SFO/BOS is one of the holdouts and AFAIK has always done this. SFO/IAH is one of the most egregious offenders though - cheapest o/w is an M! Reasoning is the same old: people who don't stay Friday or Saturday night are business travelers and will fork over whatever is asked of them.

Kacee

And all three carriers flying the route nonstop do this.

RandomBaritone

I was hoping you'd answer, since you always know exactly what you're talking about.

Is there any hope for someone trying to use two e-certs on a single round-trip? For example can UA apply both e-certs to one reservation if I call in? The frustrating thing is I really am staying over a Saturday night, so technically I'm playing by the rules. I just want to apply both certificates.

safra1

Why are UA flights in Y from EWR to Mexico (PVR, SJD, MEX specifically) so incredibly expensive compared to AA in Nov/Dec 2017 (UA is 3x as expensive)? I understand that this is high season and these flights are far out, but I don't recall this happening in previous years (where UA has completely withheld economy fare classes below Y and B).

WineCountryUA

UA is having the tendency in some markets not to post the lowest fare until 6-8 months out. The other airlines also limit some of the cheapest fares initially but UA is pushing the boundary a bit more at times. Note this is not all markets or all origins, so this may be a testing of this delayed release of lowest fares. You will see more discussion of this up-thread.

purduephotog

I'm based in ROC, usually fly to ORD/EWR and then on to final destination. Have 6 flights (in/out) in the next month and every single one of them comes up delta or AA, usually by about 400-600$ cheaper.

I can't even FIND UA flights on ITA/Matrix at reasonable (sub 600) for these locations. They're all in the 1k$ range.

Did I miss this happening last year? Is this a common occurrence? I figured Feb after most bonus elite reset it would be easier finding flights, but no go.

Or does award travel utilize (I am not booking award but business paid travel) utilize low cost seats first, which drives the empty seat prices up?

-Tried searching logged into UA as I am platinum, and still nothing-

findark

Specific dates/flights/routings?